Autodesk Inventor 2016 introduced several significant enhancements to the sheet metal design environment, focusing on productivity and more realistic fabrication modeling. Key technical papers and guides for this version highlight features like , zero-radius bends , and automatic material thickness detection . Key New Features in Inventor 2016 Sheet Metal
: For the first time, users could create multiple independent sheet metal bodies within a single part file. This allows for a top-down design approach where complex assemblies can be laid out in one file before being separated into individual components. Autodesk NEW Inventor 2016 on sheet metal design
: The punch tool dialog now displays a count of the number of punch instances selected, improving documentation for machine shops. This allows for a top-down design approach where
: Reference materials like the Inventor 2016 SheetMetal Design-EVAL offer a 38-page breakdown of the module's capabilities. : When converting a standard solid part or
: When converting a standard solid part or imported non-native geometry into a sheet metal part, Inventor 2016 can now automatically detect the material thickness, eliminating a manual setup step.
: This highly requested feature allows for the creation of sharp corners (zero radius) in sheet metal components, which more accurately reflects certain fabrication methods and avoids error messages in the Bend Radius field.